December 19, 2008	Friday	Zilhaj 20, 1429

PESHAWAR, Dec 18: NWFP Minister for Irrigation Pervez Khattak admitted on the floor of provincial assembly on Thursday that he had no authority and could not transfer even an employee of his department on his own.

He made the astonishing statement when Abdul Akbar Khan of PPP tabled his adjournment motion in the house against the illegal appointment of PTC and CT teachers in Mardan.

Mr Khan said the authorities concerned ‘sold’ five times all those posts to the unqualified candidates. He said some of the Dubai-based candidates, who had purchased those vacancies, didn’t appear in the tests and interviews. He said the officials had plundered the youth of Mardan. He requested the house to admit his motion for a detailed discussion on that matter of public importance.

Minister for Primary Education Sardar Hussain Babak denied all allegations and said all appointments had been done on merit. He said if any irregularity was committed he would correct it. He criticised the previous MMA government, who according to him would extort contractors for petty favours.

He said was ready to resign if someone proved irregularities against the greasing of his palms. He also praised Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, who was present in the house, for his honesty and up-rightness.

Abdul Akbar, the mover, accepted the challenge and said he was ready to prove 30 illegal appointments. He lauded the previous MMA government for making the appointments of teachers on merit.

The situation took an astonishing turn when Provincial Minister Pervez Khattak said: “We are ministers without any authority.

We cannot transfer a person on our own. We are not taken into confidence when transfers are made in our departments.” When he was giving an account of his experience being a cabinet member, the opposition MPAs endorsed his narrations by thumping their desks.

He said every MPA was powerless and could not satisfy his/her electorates. Senior Minister Bashir Bilour stood in his chair and interrupted him and asked him to resign. Mr Khattak quickly replied to Mr Bilour `you must resign’.

Earlier, the Frontier lawmakers through a unanimously passed resolution expressed their solidarity with Al-Muntazir Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes on US president George W. Bush at a press conference in Baghdad on Sunday, and demanded of the Iraqi regime to release him forthwith.

The resolution was jointly moved by Mufti Kifayatullah of MMA, Qalanadar Khan Lodhi of PML-Q, Sikandar Hayat Sherpao of PPP-Sherpao, Pir Sabir Shah of PML-N, Shah Hussain of MMA, provincial ministers Mian Iftikhar Hussain of ANP and Liaquat Shabab and Mehmood Alam of PPP to denounce the detention of the Iraqi journalist.

They said the incident was a reflection of the hatred that people held against the US for its policies in Iraq. They said such incidents were a general feature of true democracies across the world. They said Mr Zaidi had represented the aspirations of Iraqi people by throwing his shoes on Mr Bush. This august house, they said, thought Mr Zaidi was not less than a hero of Iraq. They demanded of the Iraqi regime to release him forthwith.

Earlier, when Speaker Kiramatullah Khan Chagharmati announced a tea-break and moved out of the house, the main mover, Mufti Kifayat, of the resolution went up to the dais and sat in the speaker’s chair. He did his best to breath out his ‘sentiments’ from the dais but the assembly staff rocked his move by switching off the sound system.

During question-answer’s hour, lawmakers from Hazara complained about appointment of Class IV employees from other districts in Hazara University. They said it was unfair to deprive the local people of Hazara even of the lower-grade posts. Pir Sabir Shah asked the chair to form a house committee, comprising Hazara lawmakers, to look into the matter.

Education Minister Qazi Mohammad Asad tried to satisfy his fellow MPAs, but he failed to appease them.

Israrullah Gandapur of the PPP-S also tabled an adjournment motion about the growing tension on Pakistan’s eastern border after the Nov 26 shooting in Mumbai.